Kanye West Still Running for President, Files for FEC

Last week, rapper Kanye West announced that he will run for President, and now he has taken his first official step. The rapper has filed with the Federal Election Commission and his name will be included in the ballot this November 2020.

Kanye for president

On July 15, Kanye filed the first form that is required by the FEC, which is the Form 1, Statement of Organization, declaring that the Kanye 2020 committee will serve as the "Principal Campaign Committee" with his as its candidate. His party is listed as BDY, which stands for Birthday Party. However, this is just the beginning.

The rapper still needs to file Form 2, Statement of Candidacy, which shows that he has raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign activity and triggers candidacy status under federal campaign finance law.

Kanye filing his form came after reports stated on July 14 that he decided to end his campaign days after he announced that he was running for office. Hundreds of people are working for the rapper already but according to an election strategist, just hours before West filed the form, that the rapper is "out."

Also Read: Kim Kardashian Reveals How She Feels About Kanye West's Bipolar Disorder

On July 15, Steve Kramer, a strategist hired by the rapper to get his name on the ballot in South Carolina and Florida, told Intelligencer that he will let the public know what he knows once he gets all of their stuff canceled. He said that there are around 180 people supporting the rapper's campaign and he has nothing good or bad to say about West.

According to TMZ, although West's hired staff said that the rapper's bid for president is off, the FEC tells a different story. Even though West finished the first form to run for president, he still has to file Form 2. The FEC filing shows that funds of Kanye's campaign will go through First Bank of Wyoming.

Kanye's announcement about his presidency came after he said that he wanted to move his family to the deep red state and he is allegedly in the process of building a massive mansion there, as reported by The DailyMail.

West's supporters

Reality star and Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian West, reposted the rapper's tweet along with an American Flag emoji, showing his support for her husband. Elon Musk, West's friend and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also showed his support on Twitter.

However, West's presidency is doomed even before it started because the deadline to get on the presidential ballots of certain states had already passed.

The deadline to register to get on the ballot for the election this November has already passed in six states - New York, North Carolina, Texas, Maine, Indiana, and New Mexico- and the deadline for seven other states are coming up before the end of July.

If the estimation is based on the 538 Electoral College votes, he would already be missing out on 102. West would need to move fast to avoid losing out on 85 Electoral College votes because the deadline to get on the ballot in West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, South Carolina, and Oklahoma are coming up in July.